Teplice (Teplice-anov until 1948, German: Teplitz-Schönau) is a statutory city in Ústí nad Labem (German: Aussig) Region of the Czech Republic. It is the country's second largest spa town, after Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad). Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I, its generally German-speaking population found itself in newly established Czechoslovakia (CSR). (1) As an alternative to the Ústřední jednota československých achistů, that was founded in 1905 under the name Ústřední jednota českých achistů (Central Czech Chess Union), Germans in Sudetenland started in 1921 the organization Der Deutsche Schachverband in der Tschechoslowakei (German Chess Federation in Czechoslovakia), with Viktor Tietz as chairman (until 1931). (2) The new federation held congresses every year, and at its first congress in Teplitz-Schönau, in 1922, Inspektor J. Schorr found the occasion to organize an international tournament. Fourteen players participated in the round robin event. Despite the absence of world champion Jose Raul Capablanca (#1), Alexander Alekhine (#2), Milan Vidmar (#4), former world champion Emanuel Lasker (#5), Efim Bogoljubov (#7), Max Euwe (#19) and Aron Nimzowitsch (#22), all players were later estimated to be in the top 25 of the world at that time. (3)

Bogoljubov had signed up, but withdrew at a late stage and was replaced by Friedrich Sämisch (#21). (4) The others were: Akiba Rubinstein (#3), Savielly Tartakower (#6), Borislav Kostić (#8), Ernst Grünfeld (#9), Rudolph Spielmann (#10), Richard Réti (#11), Géza Maróczy (#12), Heinrich Wolf (#13), Siegbert Tarrasch (#14), Richard Teichmann (#15), Jaques Mieses (#17), Paul Johner (#24) and Karel Treybal (#25). Two months earlier, Rubinstein, Tartakower, Réti and Maróczy had played in London (1922), and Rubinstein and Tarrasch arrived more or less straight from Hastings (1922). Spielmann warmed up by giving a simul in Bratislava (Pressburg) 27 September (+12 =5 -1, loss to Wagner). (5) The tournament had been delayed (for some amount of time), with the inauguration scheduled for 30 September and the meeting of the German Chess Federation in CSR set to 1 October. (6)

Play was scheduled for 2-15 October. (7) Time control was 2 hours for the first 30 moves, then 1 hour every 15 moves. Draws before move 45 could only be made in agreement with the tournament managers. (7, 8)The Times noted that "It remains to be seen how this experiment will affect the much debated drawn game question." (8) The top prizes were 3000, 2500, 2000, 1500, 1000, 500 and 300 Czechoslovak korunas (Kč). In addition, the players got 60 Kč for each game, 40 to the winner and 20 to the loser. They also got 1000 Kč for stay costs, and free railway transport to and from Teplitz. (7) The venue was the Kaiserbad (in 2017: Císařské lázně ('Imperial Baths' (9))), on the first floor, in a room where in 2013 there was a cafe. (10) There were daily reports with commentary and cartoons of the players in the Teplitz-Schönauer Anzeiger. (10) The round dates were:

Before the last round, five players (Réti, Spielmann, Tartakower, Grünfeld, Rubinstein) could win the first prize. But Tartakower and Rubinstein lost (against Teichmann and Kostić, respectively), and the other three drew. Réti, the hypermodernist, and Spielmann, the romanticist, tied for first place, each with nine points out of 13 rounds. For Réti this was an impressive follow up to his win at Gothenburg (1920). He had three losses, but earned eight points in wins against over half the field, including three of the top finishers. After 1920, he spent his time to write the now classic Die neuen Ideen im Schachspiel (Modern Ideas in Chess). He lost a match to Spielmann in 1921 (1.5 : 4.5), and played in Bad Pistyan (1922). For Spielmann, the first place was also a significant achievement. His passionate play and opening choices had been more admirable than successful, but now he lost one game only (against Réti). There is a picture of the top prize takers at https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/2... (from the tournament book). One month later, Réti and Spielmann ended 8th and 10th, respectively, when nine of the Teplitz players competed in Vienna (1922).

The draw for pairings followed the Berger system. (16) There were 35 draws (38%), of which 19 were before move 45. The event achieved attention through its seven brilliancy prize games. (17) The most well known today (in 2016) is perhaps Maroczy vs Tartakower, 1922. Of the seven prizes, no less than four were won by Rubinstein:

After Round 2 there were two problem solving contests, and some of the players participated. Three 2-movers were solved by Spielmann in 8 minutes (1st prize), followed by Réti (19,5 minutes) and Dr. Michalitschke (22 minutes), and three 3-movers were solved by Teichmann in 40 minutes (1st prize), ahead of Mieses (65 minutes), Chmellarz (75 minutes) and Wolf (76 minutes). (20)

The congress also featured a Hauptturnier, and a Nebenturnier (which was won by H. Riethof). The Hauptturnier consisted of four groups, and the winner of each group proceeded into a final Siegergruppe. This was won by Hans Thanhofer (2½), ahead of Karl Gilg (2). Thanhofer thus became the first champion of the German Chess Federation in Czechoslovakia. (21)

Olavi: The book is indeed one of the greatest classics, somewhat in the shadows undeservedly. The first 286 pages deal with the tournament; the rest consists of all kinds of essays by true authorities. A particular strong point is problem chess theory.

Tabanus: <offramp> Thanks. I can imagine the problem sentences are Teplice's "generally German-speaking population" + "Here, the Ustredni Jednota Ceskych Sachistu (Central Chess Union of CSR) was open to all players, but the German citizens established in 1921 a separate organization."

offramp: Dear <Tabanus> there is nothing at all wrong with the introduction, which I think is extremely well-written. I was just making a general point: people with no idea of European history will have trouble when reading about some places in Central Europe. Are they German towns or not? I think this tournament shows how difficult it can be.

Tabanus: I read some more and think the text is a little unfortunate. I tried to rephrase it, but not sure how much it helped. If at all. This is not my cup of tea. I read there were attempts to join the two organizations together, in 1926 and 1930, but that this failed (for some reason).

Paarhufer: This post is based on a deal between <Tabanus>, author of the introduction, and me. My part of the deal is to point out one mistake that let me shake my head (see above), a statement that upset <Tabanus>. Let's go!

I don't have a copy of the tournament book anymore, but before I gave it away some years ago, I made copies of some pages. The tournament book was edited by a man called Schorr from Teplitz-Schönau, who wrote an introduction as well as an article entitled "Der Schachkongreß in Teplitz-Schönau". In this article he described in detail how he(!) organized the congress and the master tournament in particular.

The half-sentence <the 63-year-old Tietz had the occasion to organize an international tournament> from the introduction is therefore wrong.

Schorr's text is very nicely written and contains as one highlight a letter by Lasker, which gives insights and mysteries, too. Therefore I remembered it very well, and meanwhile I have read it again, of course.

Background. Tietz was a driving force of the four international tournaments in Karlsbad, but not in Teplitz-Schönau. Schorr organized the tournament with a remarkable speed. Impressed by the tournament in Pistyan (April 1922), he first tried to invite the four top-placed players from there. Bogoljubov and Alekhine refused. Schorr's
next idea was a 6-master-tournament. During the communication with several
masters he extended his plans to a 14-15 player tournament. Only one person knew his plans at this time: Chmellarz (sic - not Chmelarz as in the introduction). At the end of June Schorr had a temporary program and he went on holiday. After that he had still to solve the money issue. Here he was supported by a second person named Grünberg. Tietz appears in Schorr's article at the very end, because he accepted the position as "Turnierleiter", which is the German word for the (chief) umpire during a tournament.

Here I would like to return to the picture with the five prize-winners
of the tournament (see above). This is a well-prepared shot! The key mentions only the 5 masters (all sitting), but several people standing are also carefully chosen. On the right we have Schorr. Next to him Chmellarz. The small man in the middle is of course Tietz, and Grünberg is the the man behind Grünfeld.

2: <Ustredni Jednota Ceskych Sachistu> was indeed founded 1905, but the
name was then "Ústřední jednota českých achistů". In 1922 the name was however "Ústřední jednotu československých achistů", from easy-to-understand reasons. (Accents without guarantee.)

3: <Bogoljubov had signed up, but withdrew at a late stage>. Although that is claimed in the Berliner Tagblatt and other newspapers, it is most probably wrong. Schorr wrote that Bogoljubov's conditions arrived very late, and could not be understand and fulfilled.

4: <and draws before move 45 could only be made in agreement with the tournament leaders.> Well, maybe a language issue on my side: I thought 'tournament leaders' are the players with the most points, but here the tournament management or directory is meant.

5: In the reference to the tournament book, please add a '-' before Turn.

Much more could be said, but for now I'm done.

PS: Schorr is named "Inspektor J. Schorr" and "Inspektor I. Schorr" in the tournament book. I think I could identify him as insurance agent ("Versicherungs-Inspektor") and by means of his address as Isidor Schorr. He received a honorary membership of the German association for organizing the congress.
Grünberg was a banker ("Bankprokurist") and I found out his first name as Heinrich.
Chmellarz first name was Walter (sometimes Walther). His title was "Magister" and many years later he took over the fatherly pharmacy in Teplitz-Schönau.

Tabanus: <Paarhufer> Thanks. I'll improve it in a day or three. That Tietz was the organizer I had from here: http://www.memorial.tietz.cz/tietz.... ("poradatel I. kongresu DSV v Teplicích v roce 1922"). Chmellarz with one l in the magazine (see note 21), but if you say so.

Paarhufer: <Tabanus> The major point I have avoided so far are the names, or better the language of names. The towns Teplitz-Schönau, Karlsbad and others, where the tournaments were played, do no longer exist. These were German towns with a corresponding culture, and now there are Czech towns with a different culture, and they have Czech names.

Exaggregating it a bit one could compare this with the historic towns Byzantium and Constantinople vs todays Istanbul.

Using German names increases historical correctness. For example you wrote: <The venue was the Císarské lázne (Imperial Baths (9))>. I could literally cry! The name of the venue was "Kaiserbad"!

Please use Google's picture search for "Kaiserbad Teplitz-Schönau" and you'll get all these historical postcards. And then look at the result with "cisarske lazne teplice".

On the other hand you have used German words, where I would hesitate. <Hauptturnier>, well that's an important term. It had a special meaning in the German Chess Association (keyword <Meisterordnung>), and also for the local sub-organisations. <Nebenturnier> is already very doubtful, because these were mostly only other tournaments. <Siegergruppe> (winner's group) means nothing but a final played after some prelimianry groups.

Tabanus: I made some changes, and am ready for the Gnadenstoß. Someone has put Site = Teplice-Sanov on all the games, is that wrong? It was a Czecho-Slovak (and not German) town in 1922 - did it have an official name then, or, perhaps two names?

<T: The most tiresome is the renumbering of the footnotes.> I see. There are other reference methods that are more robust against changes than numbers, and as I reader I appreciate often that I immediatley spot which source it is.

<T: but if if you have more I'll make changes!> Well, I could add more, but let me return to an old point.

From the introduction: <Teplice (Teplice-anov until 1948, German: Teplitz-Schönau) is a statutory city in Ústí nad Labem (German: Aussig) Region of the Czech Republic. It is the country's second largest spa town, after Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad).>

You have prefered the Czech names to the German ones. It's your introduction, and so you can do what you want. But I would like to tell you what it means. Readers with background in historical writing will probably think that the writer is unexperienced (or even worse). There are conventions, and people who do not respect these conventions, are suspicious.

It's no problem, that you didn't followed my advice: you don't know me. But you can be guided by well-known experts. E. Winter is an excellent reference (I hope you don't belong to the Winter haters in the bistro). Use the search function of his site and search for Karlsbad/Carlsbad vs Karlovy Vary, for Teplitz vs Teplice, for Marienbad vs Mariánské Lázně, and for Mährisch-Ostrau vs Ostrava.

You can also look into some very good books, mostly the table of contents is sufficient. Let me see what I have around. The wonderfull book on Nimzowitsch by Skjoldager and Nielsen: Karlsbad 1907, 1911 & 1923. Whylds book with Lasker's games: Mährisch-Ostrau. Chernev's "Most instructive games ...": Carlsbad, Mahrisch-Ostrau[sic].

And even the Czechs Fiala & Kalendovsky in their volume 2 of the "Complete games of Alekhine": Carlsbad 1923.

Paarhufer: <T: I'm not a Winter hater!> Good to know, but you work for one as often as he calls for your help.

<T: The two first sentences of the introduction refer to today (2017)> Correct. I silently assumed that the description of a tournament in 1922 should start with a description of the situation in 1922. You start with todays situation, and that of 1922 remains incomplete. The other way around it would be much better. But as I said: your introduction.

Teplitz-Schönau was a historic spa with a tradition of centuries. In the second half of the 19th century, the brown coal mining put this state at risk. Accidents in 1879 and 1887 in some mines stopped temporarely the mineral springs, and damaged the reputation of the spa. About 30-40 ago, Teplice belonged to the most dirtiest brown coal field in Europe. The gray and sooty city was of no interest to spa guests. Since the downfall of the Eastern bloc, the city has changed again. Today Teplice is known for
glas and ceramic industry, and it is a spa again.

Paarhufer: <T: Well, I don't think CG is a Winter hater.> I spoke of another person, which I'm not going to mention. But I exclude OCF and z, despite their recent and partly bizarre posts on Mr Winter.

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